9 Weeks

Apr 18, 2010 - Apr 24, 2010

Your Body
When it comes to pregnancy symptoms, you may feel like you've already reached your limit this week: Your clothes are getting tighter around the waist, you're busting out on top, you're still running to the bathroom 100 times a day (if it isn't to throw up, it's to pee). But wait, there's more. You're having trouble lifting your head off the pillow, you're dragging your feet all day, and you can't wait to crawl into bed as soon as you arrive home at night. Sound familiar? If it does, you're in good pregnant company: You've got pregnancy fatigue.

Extreme fatigue during pregnancy is a common symptom, especially in the first trimester. And for good reason. Making a baby is hard work — make that very hard work. Consider this: During these first weeks and months of pregnancy, your body is manufacturing the placenta — your baby's life-support system. What's more, your body's metabolism and hormone levels have increased significantly while your blood sugar and blood pressure tend to be lower. Add it all up, and it's no wonder you feel as if you're competing in a triathlon each day.

The good news: You'll recover a lot of the get up and go that has gotten up and left once your body has adjusted to being pregnant and your baby's placenta is finished developing — somewhere around month four. The not-so-good news: Pregnancy fatigue is likely to reappear during the last trimester as the demands of toting around a larger fetus increase.

Your Baby
Sunrise, sunset: Would you believe your baby is having his or her first graduation already? Yes, it's true: Your scholar-to-be has ended his or her embryonic stage and is entering the fetal period now (good-bye embryo, hello fetus). Your fetus is now about one inch long, the size of a medium green olive (but no martinis, please). The head has straightened out and is more fully developed, the ears are much more prominent, and some new organs (the liver, spleen, and gallbladder) are forming. Your fetus is also making spontaneous movements of his or her arms and legs now that minuscule muscles are beginning to develop, though you won't feel your tiny dancer for at least another two months.

While it's way too early to feel anything, it's not too early to hear something (possibly). Your baby's heart is developed enough — and grown large enough — so that its beats can be heard with a Doppler, a handheld ultrasound device that amplifies the lub-dub sound the heart makes. But don't worry if your practitioner can't pick up the sound of your baby's heartbeat yet. It just means your shy guy or gal is hiding in the corner of your uterus, or has his or her back facing out, making it hard for the Doppler to find its target. In a few weeks (or at your next visit) the miraculous sound of your baby's heartbeat is certain to be audible for your listening pleasure.


-Aly G